Resource

Alternative Emergency Response Programs typically dispatch teams of unarmed community workers and licensed health care personnel, such as emergency medical technicians, licensed clinical social workers, and paramedics, to help people and communities. Teams provide tailored care to the subjects of nonviolent 911 calls, empower people to make their own decisions, and provide needed resources to realize and sustain those decisions.

AR teams prevent calceral entanglements, build relationships and trust in communities, meet immediate basic needs (e.g., food, blankets), and connect people to longer term social and medical needs.

There is a movement toward supported crisis response, with a focus on helping individuals achieve sustainable, positive health and wellbeing. This shift moves away from traditional policing models that focus on preventing crime through coercion and criminal deterrence. Such shifts have the potential to result in safer communities and enhanced health and racial justice